RxGibbs’ Futures EP came out a couple of weeks back on Cascine (purveyors of lovely, lovely electronic loveliness), and it has left me in a quandry. Warm expansive bass lines wash in and around the haze-y synths while some pretty up-tempo live percussion keeps it moving along briskly, and prevents it becoming a snooze-fest. This is the sound of a woozy, swoonsome Summer romance – thing is it is February, and despite the ‘heatwave’ it still freezing out. So I guess it is just a bit of a mind fuck.

In Orbit by RxGibbs

Putting all mind fuckery to one side, it is hard to resist the EP’s charms. It has a faintly retro ambient feel to it with definite hints of The Orb in its ever so slightly extraterrestrial palette. Where RxGibbs makes it more interesting is in the way he shoots the whole thing through with beats that are swift enough to keep your feet moving, but totally in tune with the slower rhythms that run across the record. You feel like you’re dancing in time with the pulsating melodies, rather than the percussion which instead acts as lively punctuation.

The ‘could be anyone, could be anywhere’ vocals – extended and distorted at times to feed in to the drifting melodies – inject a welcome dose of humanity, they don’t intrude on the experience too much. It is this kind of wordless, emotional tug that makes it so appealing, it is evocative of whatever it is that you associate with Summer. RxGibbs has succeeded in creating a piece of work that is powerfully redolent of good summers, and intensely personal for every individual who listens to it. For this I applaud him, for releasing in Winter I curse him!